India opener Shikhar Dhawan lauded the central government, specifically PM Narendra Modi for the decision to impose a 21-day countrywide lockdown while the nation fights the arduous battle with COVID-19 outbreak.
“It was a good decision by our Prime Minister and very important given the circumstances," Dhawan told Sportstar. "We have to understand it is for the benefit of the people. We will have to be patient. Can’t we give 21 days of our life to help the country recover from this outbreak?"
"We need to control the spread of the virus and that can happen only if we follow the instructions of the authorities and the doctors."
Dhawan then talked about how he himself is dealing with this phase. “By visiting myself. By understanding myself. I have to challenge myself. I have pledged to talk sweetly, not to lose my temper," he said. "I don’t raise my voice."
"I know my strength is this calmness that I have developed in the past few years. I can maintain my composure under any stress and not allow anxiety to influence my behaviour," added the 34-year-old about his mantra for life these days.
The world has come to a rare standstill. It must be really difficult for people to cope up and adjust to their new routines. But Dhawan insisted this period can be tackled.
“You have to learn to interact with yourself," he said. "When I am batting in the middle, I interact with myself. You can be your best friend. I was also my best critic when I failed. I would concentrate on keeping negativity out of my system, crush the negative feelings, because you learn nothing from them."
Dhawan is spending all the time he misses out on because of national duty with his family these days, and also “doing little chores in the house. Training. Reading. Playing with children. Eating together. I look at this lockdown as a directive from god and nature. We have been taught a lesson. We now must learn to respect nature."
"You may have all the world’s riches and comforts but it is nature which has the last laugh. We all have had some harsh lessons in recent times and I am sure we all will learn to be better human beings," he added.
For a sportsperson, having seen a mix of lows and highs throughout his career, it must be slightly easier, perhaps, to understand and implement life lessons.
“I have learnt to tackle hardships. Learnt to accept failures. I was quick to realise that life has various phases in store for you. I was fortunate to understand all that when I was a teenager."
"I could not get a place in the (Indian) team as long as Viru (Virender Sehwag) and Gautam (Gambhir) were excelling," Dhawan added.
"I was busy playing Ranji Trophy and accepting that my turn had not come yet. All the while I was learning. It took me nine years after my first-class debut to get a Test cap. It made me a better cricketer actually."
(Inputs from Sportstar)
